Hi, and sorry for bad english. I have 7998 since last August, purchased it from direct importer in Singapore, so i have no warranty at all. Since it was cheaper and Alpine wont fail you (i thought), so i decided to skip buying from certified dealer (to get warranty) and saved money. But i was dissappointed today to have this 7998 totally failed to read a self-burnt CD-RW (with Roxio program). It read fine few days ago on other CD-Rs & CDs, but for this particular CD-RW, it read good on several first tracks, but when it gets to halfway of the mp3s, it stopped and shows "ERROR". I ejected the CD-RW, it did and refeed with other CDs, still "ERROR". I reset by the tiny button under the phantom face plate, still "ERROR". I disconnected power supply, still "ERROR". What had happened? Usually after feeding a CD, you will hear some sound like the lens is running on the CD surface, but there was no such sound anymore since the "ERROR" appears.
By the way, it happened with the very same CD-RW few weeks ago, but it recovered on the next day after i left the 7998 idle (not playing anything at all, even the radio) overnight. i am just worried that "miracle-self-recovery" wont happen again tomorrow morning. if i needed a repair on the pickup, i would do, but sooner, i will surely give it up for IVA-D900, Alpine's DVD with 7" screen. Is it good?
either you have a defective unit (very possibly grey market) which is why you should always buy from an authorized dealer, or that disc is severely messed up and you need to throw it out.